Link-Belt crawler logs 12,000 hours

A 250 US ton (227 tonne) capacity Link-Belt 298 HSL lattice boom crawler crane has logged 12,000 hours at a job site in the Queens borough of New York City, USA.

The crawler crane logged the hours over 22 months during a project at the East Side Access jobsite, which will connect four tunnels running under the East River from Harold Interlocking in Queens, New York, west, to a new terminal directly below the existing Grand Central Station in Manhattan.

During the project the crane was used to supply two boring machines during seven months of non-stop boring. The boring machines are made by Herrenknecht and are 6.8 metres in diameter; in total more than 3,352.8 m has been bored at the site.

The 298 crawler was also used to lower a 100 ton (90.7 tonne) truck crane, a PC600 large excavator and 45 ton (40.8 tonne) rough terrain crane onto the site. Other work consisted of lowering ventilation tubing, additional tracks for the Herrenknecht, pre-cast liner segments and electrical pipelines measuring 21.3 m below ground, explained Kevin Dillon, operator engineer at GTF, a joint venture company between Granite Construction of Watsonville, California; Traylor Brothers of Evansville, Indiana and Frontier-Kemper also of Evansville, Indiana.

One of the largest picks carried out by the 298 HSL was the removal of trailing gear from the tunnel, which weighed 49,895 kg. The lift was completed using a five-part line. Duct work weighing 44,452 kg was also lifted by the crawler.

Maintenance work carried out by the crew during the project included the replacement of the 28 mm auxiliary hoist line, which was replaced after 10,000 hours. The crane was also inspected every three months by the crew and also by the New York City Department of Buildings.

The project is costing around US$730 million. The 298 is expected to continue working at the site for another six months.